Taxidermia
| Taxidermia | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | György Pálfi |
| Produced by | Péter Miskolczi Gábor Váradi |
| Written by | György Pálfi Zsófia Ruttkay Lajos Parti Nagy |
| Starring | Csaba Czene Gergely Trócsányi Piroska Molnár Adél Stanczel |
| Music by | Amon Tobin |
| Cinematography | Gergely Pohárnok |
| Edited by | Réka Lemhényi |
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Production
company |
Amour Fou Filmproduktion
Eurofilm Stúdió Katapult Film La Cinéfacture Memento Films Production |
| Distributed by | Pool Filmverlieh (Austria) Memento Films (France) Regent Releasing (US) |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | Hungary Austria France |
| Language | Hungarian English Russian |
| Budget |
HUF 500 million US$2.2 million |
| Box office | $11,408 (USA) |
Taxidermia is a 2006 Hungarian/Austrian surrealist comedy-drama horror film directed by György Pálfi. The film is a metaphorical socio-political retelling of Hungary's history from the Second World War to the present day.
The story is told by means of three generations of men from Hungary, beginning with a military orderly during the Second World War, moving on to an aspiring speed-eater during the Cold War, and concluding with a taxidermist during modern times. The film has elements of dark comedy and body horror.
The film begins in a remote Hungarian military outpost, where orderly Morosgoványi Vendel lives a wretched existence of servitude beneath the heel of his lieutenant, Öreg Balatony Kálmán. Condemned to performing menial duties for the officer and his family while sleeping in an unheated shack next to the latrines, Morosgoványi frequently escapes into fantasy. So realistic are these fantasies that in one ambiguous instance, Morosgoványi sleeps with and impregnates the lieutenant's wife and "wakes up" to find himself engaged in an act of sodomy with a slaughtered pig. Upon seeing this, the lieutenant promptly executes Morosgoványi and raises the son, Balatony Kálmán, as his own.
Decades later Kálmán has grown into a champion Hungarian speed eater. Coached and influenced by the strict Jenő, Kálmán's life revolves around training for the eventual day when the IOC recognizes speed-eating as a legitimate sport. After a bout of lockjaw at a Soviet event and eloping with fellow speed-eating champion Aczél Gizi, Kálmán resumes his rigorous training, even as Gizi gives birth to their son, Balatony Lajoska.
Decades later, Lajoska has grown into a dedicated, professional taxidermist. In contrast to both his parents' girth, Lajoska appears pale and impoverished, with a thin anemic frame and haunted visage. When not working from his taxidermy shop or failing in his attempts to lead a normal life, Lajoska purchases groceries for his father Kálmán, who has grown so monstrously obese that he cannot leave the chair in his claustrophobic apartment. Kálmán, who feeds butter to his caged cats, has nothing but harsh words for his son who, upon reaching his breaking point, abandons his father to his own prison. Returning later, he discovers that the cats have escaped their cages and, desiring meat, have eviscerated his father.
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